It all depends on your listening preferences like a new cart, or a new set of speakers. I am enjoying my "bi-wirging" experience. Some music sounds more open to me bc my ears are different than anyone elses. Good luck with your search bc it's your search, and it's awesome that it's your search alone |
I have always bi-wired my speakers.
The concept makes perfect sense if you consider that the voicecoil is kinda like an electric motor.
Give it power and it goes.
but an electric motor is also an electric generator if the movement is caused by an exterior force.
The driver doesn't comes to rest instantaneously after being driven by the amplifier.
momentum keeps it going and that can cause the creation of current which feeds back to the tweeter. potentially.
Bi-wiring gives this current a place to go as it is drawn to the ground of the amplifier.
Path of least resistance and all that. |
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Some years back I had speakers that could be bi-wired or bi- amped.
The only advantage I see now from bi- wiring is you will already own the wire if you decide to Bi-amp,Which I eventually did do.If that isn't a future consideration, don't bother. The money is better spent on upstream components, not wire or speaker mods. |
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No! Bi-wiring does NOT improve the sound if your speaker gauge is sufficient to the situation. As mentioned doubling the gauge of the wire “could” help... but maybe not. It is probably the least expensive “Audiophile” tweak you can try but do try and let the rest of us know it it actually works for you! I’m willing to bet it will make no difference in the actual sound.
** actual results may vary :-)
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I bi-wire because the speakers are so designed & mfr encourages & already had the wires from last setup. Adding a second pair of binding posts just to enable bi-wiring strikes me as nutty, as others have said.
Nobody thinks bi-wiring is harmful, so if you've got the stuff already, go for it. |
The only benefit of bi‐wiring is the increased speaker wire gauge equivalent you get running two sets of wires. Running a twin set of wire is equivalent to increasing the speaker wire guage by 3. For example, running two 14 guage wires is equivalent to running a single 11 guage wire. I have tried both routes and I would say If the cost is minimal, there is no harm in running a bi‐wire setup. I wouldn't go to the trouble of adding dual binding posts to a set of speakers though to accomplish this. |
Richard Vandersteen insists his speakers are bi-wired per his design, so I bi-wire mine, and have never used jumpers on my Vandy’s. Not sure what the big deal is. I’m certainly not going win an argument on the subject with Richard, and have never seen anyone who has when confronted with the subject.
Now, if your speakers only have one set of binding posts, I see no good reason to add them if that is how they were designed. |
It doesn't make a difference. And the whole diagonal wiring thing is another nonsensical myth. I implore you to try it for yourselves, but make sure no alcohol is consumed between the time you start the wiring experiment and the time you sit down to listen. |
Not that it would directly pertain to your situation, but simply improving the jumper situation can have a noticeable improvement...or change, rather. I say this for perspective, as I would not conceive of going to the trouble of changing a crossover to add extra posts. Just improving the crossover with better wire/connections, caps, resistors alone should be more than sufficient. I’m sure I’ll receive some flac for suggesting this, but would it not seem that a biwire configuration would be taking into account cabinet and driver design? Some of the very best speakers out there only have one set of posts. But my current speakers (totem arros) have two sets, and when I simply changed out those factory brass honkers with silver plated audioquest wires...wow, a real improvement (to my ears, anyway). So maybe just some improvements to the existing crossover, unless those parts are already pretty fancy to begin with? |
I go by the fact that if some speakers have the capability, then why not use it in that manner (biwired), can’t hurt...the speakers with just one set of terminals, well then, I have nothing to fret about as there is the one option. I can’t say that I’ve heard an astounding difference, if any, in sound quality, but I’ll use the speaker in that manner if the design allows. Plus I’d rather biwire where applicable rather than use the crappy metal jumpers provided any how. |
As for kool-aid It worked for the Grateful Dead ! Well, that kind of kool-aid may improve the sound of any system. I know for a fact i prefer the sound of my system after a glass of good wine or Scotch. really. |
I wont even comment on the benefits of bi-wiring, + or -. I have my biases and i have not done it it too long to feel confident.
But i will say that Millercarbon's comment is the most important one that we should all keep in mind, and almost no one ever asks.Many things work. The question is always "where can i get the most benefit for s given expenditure"
Right now i am placing most of my effort and money on sources (DAC, low jitter/noise sources, cartridge) and on room/setup. The sound, as it sits, is frankly amazing so I'm not out to change any fundamentals.
I believe most people can get the biggest changes from setup, room and source material (e.g.: the best recordings). Oh, and i make (or more accurately have and will) the costly electronics stuff i'm down-playing :-)
The great thing about bi-wiring is that with many speakers you can do a low-cost test -- even if the test is with lesser cables than the ones you own. This way you can separate two effects: a) wire sound (if any) and b) bi-wirign affect (if any).
G
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No it doesn't necessarily work for those who have tried it. I've had bi- wired speakers never made any difference there's no reason it would. |
It does seem to work for those who have tried it
but there is no way to measure or prove why it seems to work .
This is why I am asking the question .
As for kool-aid It worked for the Grateful Dead !
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There's no reason to add extra binding posts on the speaker to simply bi-wire, if you were going to bi-amp that's different. There is no technical reason bi-wiring works there's scientific reasons it doesn't. |
Lol! To explain, my post is so clear it doesn't need to be redone even in the face of this new information. |
To explain , when I said converting to bi-wire I meant adding
speaker posts and re-configuring the crossover wires .
One guy did a test using individual wires of 18 gauge ( 1 @ for per post )
after liking the bi-wire configuration he re-wired the crossovers back to a single wire setup and then used both 18 gauge wires ( 2 @ per post )
he like the sound of the bi-wiring better !
so increasing AWG was not a factor in his conclusion .
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There’s technical reasons it works and you can search around and read them all and decide for yourself how much of the Kool-ade you want to drink. If any. Because the fact is it works, and does sound better, at least sometimes. So what? The question is never does it work. The question is how good? And compared to what??
Those are always the questions you should be asking. Because unless the bi-wire is just sitting there in a drawer or something for free, then what you really want to know is what will get me the best sound for the money? And the answer is never buy another set of cables just to bi-wire. Buy a better set of cables. Period.
Oh by the way, "unless the bi-wire is just sitting there in a drawer" that was me back in the beginning. Wire then was cheap hookup wire. So I tried it. It worked. Twice as much wire, 10% better sound. Okay 5%. Whatever. Point is better. So it does work. Twice as much wire is one thing when its coming off a reel. When you get to $500, $1500 and more, well you do the math. Not worth it. |
It doesn't improve the sound. I just use the jumpers. |
HI,
Check first that you like the sound by moving red to tweeter (upper raw) and black to woofer (lower raw) in X configuration leaving the jumpers on.
That will give you increased highs and more forward presentation.
Simple before spending for Biwiring. |
